


Hordak & Entrapta on "Failure"

by GettingGreyer



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Analysis, Character Analysis, F/M, Gen, Meta, Season/Series 02
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-27
Updated: 2020-04-27
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:54:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 705
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23867854
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GettingGreyer/pseuds/GettingGreyer
Summary: Entrapta and Hordak become “lab partners” in the second season ofShe-Raand it is interesting to note that while both of them are intelligent and are similar in regards to their “experiments,” they could not be more different from one another, specifically in regards to their perspective on “failure.” The episode “Signals” portrays this difference with two lines of dialogue that show their philosophies to be diametrically opposed to one another.An essay originally written immediately post-S2 and posted now over on AO3 for safe keeping.
Relationships: Entrapta & Hordak (She-Ra), Entrapta/Hordak (She-Ra)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 34





	Hordak & Entrapta on "Failure"

**Author's Note:**

> This is an older meta that I originally posted after season two premiered on April 30th, 2019.

Entrapta and Hordak become “lab partners” in the second season of _She-Ra_ and it is interesting to note that while both of them are intelligent and are similar in regards to their “experiments,” they could not be more different from one another, specifically in regards to their perspective on “failure.” The episode “Signals” portrays this difference with two lines of dialogue that show their philosophies to be diametrically opposed to one another.

> Hordak: Do you know what the definition of failure is, Force Captain? **Failure is when something ceases to serve a purpose.** When that happens it becomes worthless to me.”

> Entrapta: Well, there’s no reason to get huffy because an experiment failed. **Failure is a vital part of all scientific endeavor.**

Hordak despises failure and equates it with uselessness. In his mind, there is only "success" or the “right” answer while all methods that deviate from an immediate reward are intrinsically worthless. But nothing is useless to Entrapta, even failure— _especially_ failure.

This dynamic while shown more prominently in season two, actually makes its first appearance in the final minutes of the first season. When the Super Pal Trio confronts Hordak on their “failure” to defeat Bright Moon.

> Hordak: Force Captain, it seems your experiment has failed.
> 
> Entrapta: On the contrary, the experiment was a huge success. I know more about First One's tech than ever. This is just the beginning.

Hordak is hyper-focused on his goals and has a very narrow idea of what success constitutes, while Entrapta is more open-minded and finds the pursuit and discovery of knowledge to be as rewarding as “success,” because she considers it to be a success in of itself. The mission may not have constituted a success in the sense that it failed to accomplish its primary goal (capture Brightmoon) but it ultimately expanded the Horde’s knowledge of the runestones and First One's tech and effectively diminished the power of the Rebellion. Entrapta is absolutely correct; it was a “huge success.”

However, Hordak is too narrow-minded to see this and as a result, he is limiting his own potential. In the episode “Signals,” we see what happens when Hordak fails. He becomes enraged, throwing items off the table and onto the floor before storming from the room. He despises failure and Entrapta notes that this childish reaction is ultimately futile and useless by comparing it to her own failures, remarking that if she gave up after the “first explosion” (or the “fiftieth”) she would have never built Emily.

Entrapta quickly is able to discover where Hordak’s experiment failed, she learns from the failure and discovers a usefulness from it, and as a result she is able to improve upon it and make it better. This moment ultimately shows that the narrative is framing Entrapta philosophy on “failure” as the correct one as Hordak would have been unable to succeed without it.

However, while they both have different philosophies on failure—these philosophies have yet to confront each other in any direct way. Hordak still very much resents failure, as seen by his punishment of Catra at the end of season two where he says:

> I gave you the chance to come clean, to prove your worth to me, to the Horde. This was a test. And you _failed._

In his mind Catra “failed” so she has become “worthless” to him and the Horde, showing how he has yet to learn what Entrapta knows.

And while Entrapta has so far been useful to him, their differing philosophies are sure to come head-to-head in the future of their partnership. Because all it takes is for Entrapta to “fail” in order for Hordak to consider her worthless, but he would be wrong to make that assumption.

Hordak’s relationship with Entrapta is going to be pivotal for seeing how he develops as a villain. If he listens to Entrapta and acknowledges how failure can be used to create greater success, then he will become a far more threatening and powerful villain. However, if he continues with his narrow-minded views he will be diminishing his own potential as a villain and ultimately his downfall and defeat will likely stem from his inability to accept failure and use it as a tool.

**Author's Note:**

> It's really interesting to read this meta with the knowledge of how Hordak and Entrapta's relationship developed. I loved how the theme of failure was expanded strongly in season three, so I was right in the sense of it making Hordak stronger though ... it didn't really make him too much of a better "villain." I, at the time, was still thinking of Horde as the final villain and I wasn't thinking at all of Horde Prime so that's where you can see my analysis falter.


End file.
